Mechanical football dummy



March 11, 1941. J. F. CARBERRY MECHANICAL FOOTBALL DUMMY 5 SheetsSheec 1 Filed Aug. 11, 1939 March 11, 1941. F CARBERRY MECHANICAL FOOTBALL DUMMY Filed Aug. 11, 1939' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ez/f 3 y March 11, 1941. J.F. CARBERRY I 2,234,364

MECHANICAL FOOTBALL DUMMY Filed Aug. 11, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 $3zs5arderz7 m 7? y Meztfp March 11, 1941. J CARBERRY 2,234,364

MECHANICAL FOOTBALL DUMMY Filed Aug. 11, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 m I zdv- 7477/65 Cw'fler/y March 11, 1941. J. F. CARBERRY MECHANICAL FOOTBALL DUMMY Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES "ATENT OFFICE James F. Carberry, Worcester, Mass, 'assignor to Francis J. Carberry, Worcester, Mass.

Application August 11, 1939,"Se'rial No. 289,669

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improveddummy for training, drilling, andpracticing for football players. At present the dummies used for this purpose are not suflici'ently life-like to afford the desired practice in blocking and tackling necessary to suihciently ground the players in these fundamentals of football.

The principal objects of this invention include 7, the provision of an exceedingly life-like football '10 dummy which may be made to travel at a speed "approximating that of a human being; the provision of a dummy having arm and leg movements corresponding to those of a running human; provision of means whereby the dummy, while stationary or in movement may be made f to simulate the dodging movement of a ball carrier when about to be tackled; provision of a dummy. which maybe'knocked to the ground by a football player in the manner resembling that 20 of a human; provision of a dummy which approximates the usual movements of a football player and may be blocked. or tackled; and the provision of a dummy having all of the foregoing attributes and made in aco-mparatively inex- "pensive, strong, and easily operable structure.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference 'is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which 30 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the entire apparatus with its ground support in section;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the mast turning bar; Fig. 31s a detail view of the commutator and mast support, partly in'section;

35 Fig. 4 is a detail view of a part of the mast;

Fig. 5 is a view on the line 5'-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is'a detail view of the boom stop; Fig. 7 is a View in elevation of the motor and its support;

40 Fig. 8 is a detail View of a pivotal connection, looking'in the direction of the arrow 8 in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a view inelevation looking in the direction of arrow 9 in Fig. '7; Fig. 10 is afront view of one form of the arm 45" operating mechanism;

1 Fig. llis a side view of the same looking in the direction of arrow II in Fig. 10;

.f Fig. .12 is a detail of the dummy leg; Fig. 13 is a rear view of the mechanism looking in the direction of arrow [3 in Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 isa side view of the leg operating mechanism looking'in the direction of arrow l4 Fig. 13; I 1Fig1jj15isa detail of theleg operating shaft; "'Fi'g.16 is a section online IE-+16 of Fig."13;

Fig. 17 is a section on line Il--ll of Fig. 13;

Fig. 18 is a"detail View of a modified form'of the arm and leg operating mechanism;

Fig. 19 is a sectional view o-fa modified form I, of the arm or leg operating means; and ""5 Fig. 20 is a detail view of a spring return linkage for the legs of the dummy.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it' is to be noted that a comparatively large sized pipe 10 is... sunk about six feet deep into a bed of concrete' l2, reinforced by rods 14. The pipe I0 may, if desired, be supported from a floor for indoor practice. Within this pipe, there is another smaller pipe or mast l6 mounted on an endthrust.,, bearing 18 for rotary motion relative to the pipe lo. Pivoted at IS on brackets 20, welded or otherwise secured to the pipe or mast Hi; there is a rod or boom 22 having a dummy 24 mounted at one end and a counterweight 26 at the other end. The boom 22 is restrained from sagging" at its ends by means of guy-wires 28 secured at appropriate points to the boom and to the top of a bracket 30 welded to the boom 22.

Secured to the pipe I0, there is a commutator 32 extending therearo-und and used to conduct electricity from a power source to contacts 34 mounted for rotary movement on a bracket 36 secured to an arm 38 which is in turn fastened to the mast IS. The arm 38 acts as a handle by; which the mast I5 may be rotated. Bracket 40; welded or otherwise secured to the mast l6 for rotation therewith, acts as a stop to prevent the boom 22 from pivoting about its pivot I8 past a horizontal position under influence of the counterweight 26. A switch 42 in the circuit 44 con: trols the application of electricity to the motor 46 which actuates the arms and legs of the dummy 24.

Motor 45 is mounted on a supporting bracket; 43 which is in the general form of a box, as shown in Fig. 9 and is pivoted as by pins 50 to a bracket 52 in turn pivoted by means of a pin 54 journaled in bracket 56 which is welded" or otherwise secured to the end of the boom 22. Hence, the; bracket 48 is seen to have a universal pivoting movement through the pivot and the pivot 54 at right angles thereto, as well as the up and down movement of the dummy accomplished by the pivotal mounting of the boom. 22. r.

The motor 46 drives the shaft 58 through a reduction gear 60 and a universal joint 82. Shaft 58 drives axially aligned shaft 64 through a flexible connection 66. The shaft 64 runs through a sleeve 68 weldedlor otherwisesecuredto'the.

of'the arms .of a'human runner.

.18 also carries two depending angle irons 18 which are connected at their ends by a bar 88.

-Welded or otherwise secured intermediate the ends of the irons 18 are a series of rods 82 sup porting curved frame members 84 which form the basis for the shape of the torso of the dummy, together with the bar 12 which forms the shoulders. A shaft 86 is journaled in bearings 88 at the upper ends of the irons I8 and the shaft carries a miter gear 98meshing with a corresponding gear on the lower end of 64. The ends of shaft 86 extend beyond the irons I8 and have fixed thereto cranks 92, each vcrank being pivotally connected to a crank arm 94 which extends generally downwardly and is pivotally and eccentrically connected to a disc 96. The disc 96. is made of plywood and a portion thereof extends forwardly as at 98 to form the thigh of the dummy. The thigh 98 extends downwardly to form a knee, as shown inFig. l2, and a foot and ankle member 99 is attached thereto by a heavy rubber tube I88, compactly stuffed with sponge rubber or other like material II'I'I. The legs 98, 99 could be made of spring material, orby means of articulated joints, but it has been found that the construction shown is the most practical and allows the legs to give, under impact of a tackle, very similarly to the manner of a human being tackled, while avoiding breakage of parts as made of springs or joints. Thus it is seen that rotation of shaft 86 under influence of motor 46 rotates cranks 92, and through the arms 94 oscillates the legs 98, in a vertical plane. This oscillation may be j varied by the design of the parts just described,

but it is generally desirable to have this oscillation of a degree corresponding to the up and down movement of the human thigh while running.

The bar I8 journals a shaft I82 in downturned flanges I84. The shaft I82 has fixed at its ends collars I86 to which are pivoted by the pin I88 arm elements II 8 which are seen to be' swingable in a vertical plane. Fixed to the shaft I82 adjacent the collars I86 are levers 2.. The down-turned flanges I 84 carry brackets H4 at the depending ends of which are pivoted the levers H6. The levers H2 and H6 are inter-connected at their ends by springs II8. One end of each lever II 6 has pivoted thereto a link I28, the other end of each of which is pivoted intermediate the ends of its associated crank arm 94. Hence, it is obvious that the motion of the arms 94 under influence of crank 92 imparts a generally axial reciprocation to the links I28,

this in turn oscillating levers H6 and through springs II8 correspondingly. oscillate levers H2. The oscillation of levers II2 imparts a corresponding movement to the shaft I82 which therefore oscillates arm elements H8 in a forward and. rearward direction with respect to the dummy as a whole, this action simulating the action The entire dummyis encased in a heavy sponge rubber padding I22.

Fig. 1-8 discloses a modification of the arm and leg actuating mechanism. In this case the reduction gear 68 drives a crank I III connected to an arm I83 which oscillates a link I85 pivoted at I81 to a frame member I89. The free end.

of the link I85 is pivotally connected with an other link III which in turn is pivotally connected to a lever H3 pivoted at its center at II5. Adjacent the ends of lever II3, there are provided links III connected to the leg members 96, and also adjacent the ends of lever II3 are pivoted links II9 connected at their other ends to the lever H6. By this means it is seen that upon operation of the motor the arm and leg movements resulting from the form'of the mechanism shown in Figs. 11 and 13 is obtained in the mechanism as shown in Fig. 18 by the actuation of the arm I83 under the influence of the crank I8I, without the use of any gearing.

Referring to'Figs. 4 and 5, it will be noticed that a pivot I23 on bracket 28 extends through one side of said bracket and has loosely pivoted thereon a depending handle I24 intermediate the ends of which is pivoted a long rod I28, said rod extending as shown in Fig. 1 through a supporting. bracket I28 to the swinging bracket 48. By swinging handle I24, the dummy as a whole may be swung about its pivot 58 to simulate the dodging or swerving of a running man attempting to avoid a blocker or tackler.

Fig. 19 discloses a link I38 which may besubstituted for either or both of the links 94'and I20, in which case the flexible connection 66 and the elements H6 and 8 maybe dispensed with. Link I38 comprises a rod I32 having an eye for pivotal attachment to one end of lever H2, or to crank 92, and a rod I34 forconnection to the arm 94 or leg disc 96,. the latter connection'being indicated in Fig. 20. Pinned as at I36 t the rod I34 is a cap I38, and slidably mounted on rod I32 is a similar, oppositely mounted cap tuted for link I28, for instance, the arm 94 will oscillate the lever II2, the stiffness and relative sizes of the springs preventing any appreciable sliding of the rod I32 with therelation to the tube I42, but when the arm element. H8 is firmly grasped, as by a high tackle, the spring tension will beovercome by the power reciprocating arm 94, and the motor still operates the internal parts, but the arm element I I8 may remain still, due to the consequent sliding of rod I32 with respect to tube I42. If link I38 is substituted for arm 94, the legs 98 will be oscillated, but may be held againstsuch movement as in the case of thearm elements II8.

'Fig. 20 discloses a bell-crank I58, actuatedby a spring I52, secured atone end to, the frame.

(not shown) to assist in raising the'leg 98. The'bellv-crank I58 is pivoted to a frame member at I54, and this construction tends to turn the disc 96 in a clockwise direction. j

The dummy forming the subject matter of this invention is constructed to the size, weight'and appearanceof a living football'player and in the dummy there is obtained by the structure above described. a leg action, knee, action, and swinging arm action, all actuated by an electric motor which swings with thedummy and." is controlled by the electric switch 42 mounted onv arm 38. The arm 38 is used by the coach or trainer-to travel the dummy in a circle. at any speed desired and at the same time the handle I24 may be actuated to make the dummy dodge or swerve.

This construction, while closely simulating a human being, obviates the existing danger to live players used in practice. When the dummy is struck by a player, it will swing freely in every direction although its weight, together with the weight of the boom, offers a resistance similar to that of a human being. If the player manages to knock the dummy down, thus swinging the boom about the pivot I9, the dummy will immediately rise due to counterweight 26 and is again ready for the next player. This is true no matter at What angle the dummy may be struck. An important feature of this mechanical dummy is that less expensive models may be made without motor power so that all the provisions of travel, controlled speed, automatic return to normal position, and the dodging or swerving action will still be present although the limbs are not actuated by power.

The entire body mechanism may be enclosed in a sheet metal covering I30 under the sponge rubber padding to impart rigidity and durability to the parts.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a

dummy, means pivotally suspending said dummy for substantially universal movement, means to travel said dummy in a definite path, means to momentarily force said dummy out of said path to either side thereof, the Weight of said dummy returning it to normal position.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a vertical support, a generally horizontal arm below the top of said support, a vertical extension adjacent the mid-joint of said arm, the top of the extension being pivoted to the top of the support, a dummy at one end of said arm and a counterweight at the other end of said arm.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a support, an elongated, normally horizontal beam on the support and having a dummy movably supported thereby, means to rotate said support so as to revolve said dummy, and means located adjacent said rotating means to move said dummy to either side of its normal path of travel.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a vertical mast, a horizontal beam pivoted thereto, a dummy movably suspended from said beam, means connected to the mast whereby it may be rotated, a lever adjacent said mast-rotating means, and a connection between said lever and dummy whereby actuation of said lever will dodge said dummy out of its normal path of travel.

JAMES F. CARBERRY. 

